2024

P O RT F O L IO

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

CAROLINE McCORD


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ZENITH

a space age barstool

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duration: 12 weeks

individual project


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01 Make furniture that speaks.

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04 Create a piece of furniture composed of at least 50% wood that pays

attention to fine details and craftsmanship, while having a compelling narrative.

The Space Age

choosing a narrative


The Space Age inspired furniture that

01 embraced sleek, aerodynamic forms,

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02 featuring new materials like molded plastics,

04 fiberglass, and metals. Key aspects of the style were bold colors, sweeping shapes, and a sense of weightlessness. One of my challenges is to create similar gestures to plastic chairs in wood.

Creating a comfortable sitting experience.

ergonomic research


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I narrowed in on barstools because of their 01 sitting posture. The elevated stance while 02 sitting is reminiscent of a rocket taking off. 04 Other ergonomic considerations were

footrests, essential for reducing pressure on the legs, and seat depth and width to ensure a range of body types could sit comfortably.

Maintaining the inspiration in the design.

ideation

i like how the spreaders slightly mimic the angle of the back legs


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intrigued by the almost cantilevered seat

Getting a sense of proportion.

1/6 scale modeling in bass wood


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too bottom-heavy


solid backrest too bulky

part lines mapped out to match form and lower wood costs

taller back rest

more stable front leg angle

cohesive foot rest and support bars

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more 70s than 60s

backrest too thin

front leg angle too steep (unstable)

back support bar too low, breaks the form

less spacey than others

The Space Age

joinery research


I went into Solidworks to precisely model out

01 the components for control drawings.

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02 This was helpful because it showed assembly

04 sequences, tolerances, and how individual joints fit together.


For this chair I use lap joints and mortise and tenons.


Real human testing!!

pre-final model


From this model I learned that I needed to

01 reduce the overall height, increase the

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02 distance between the seat and the

04 footrest, and rework the joints for the backrest.


Construction

final model


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I laminted most of my mahogany to make 01 the lap joints, and I used an angled jigsaw 02 to cut out the tenon for the seat. Overall, I 04 was able to build this model in 9 days.


How I incorporated my inspiration

final model


This barstool has sweeping side supports that

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01 guide the viewers eye upward towards the 02 floating seat and backrest. The inside of the 04 feet are routed to make it appear as if the

stool is ready for liftoff.


Zenith

a space age barstool


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WRIN

GIA Housewares Competition

duration: 10 weeks

in collaboration with Daniel Poss & Noah Swaim


Make household tasks enjoyable.

Identify products or tasks in peoples’ homes that are considered to be undesirable, and find a solution that is meaningful and beautiful.

Finding what people dislike.

photo ethnography



Roommates are unable to keep track of who’s food belongs to who causing tension when snacks disappear.


Blinds and curtains allow for privacy but are unable to properly block out all light for light sleepers.

Iron face is fully exposed, could cause serious injury or house fire.


Dirty dishes pile up in sink causing smell and making the chore even more undesirable.

Pots and pans are thrown into cabinet in disarray.


pictures by Caroline McCord, Daniel Poss, and Noah Swaim


What’s already out there?

market research


While looking for products that currently exist we discovered that most irons have a “spaceship-esc” silhoutte. There’s not a lot of innovation currently but people still buy irons anyways. Aside from steaming options, irons only require a thin nichrome coil and theromstat, meaning we can make a less bulky product than what currently exists

on the market.


same dial placement



same handle placement


same flat back to turn iron up


streamlined nose


People are leaving their irons unattended while they are still super hot!


The most dreaded part is putting away the ironing board after finishing a task


Can’t tell when the iron needs to be cleaned


BIGGEST TAKEAWAY

“Actually getting wrinkles out of clothes is maybe 15% of the process, the longest parts are set-up and clean-up.”

Product must-haves.

design criteria


Efficient

speeding up the ironing process from start to finish.


Protective

working around users’ current behavior while keeping them safe.


Comprehensive

making ironing an easily understood and sensible event.

Diverse

the ability to be used in different situations on a variety of materials.


Experiencial

how a user positively interacts with and experiences a product, system, or service.

detachable water tank


feet to keep hot iron face off of surfaces


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different style of hand placement that was more ergonomic

What about the board???

encountering a bump in the road


We were so zoned in on redesigning the iron that we under emphasized the importance of the ironing board. So we had to not only design an efficient board, but one that

fit cohesively with the iron.

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iMron away your worries e

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Lower the ironing board.

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Arrange fabric as desired.

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Grab your fully charged iron from the dock.


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Apply settings as needed and start ironing.

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Put the iron up.

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Lift the board back into its upright position.

Preparing the Wrin.


detachable water tank


The detachable water tank makes this iron easy to maintain. There’s a lower chance of internal electronics getting damaged and its easier to wash any residue out of the water tank.


rubber gaskets


Render by Daniel Poss


A cohesive system.


0011 ironing board slide

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03 need to put upated renders

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you’ll never have to worry about charging your iron.


asymmetrical neck fits collars and sleeves easily


all ironing items in one place, no searching required.


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CLEARSPOT

drug test re-design

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duration: 3 weeks

individual project


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01 Fight drug overdose.

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03 Design a solution to combat the effects of the Opioid Crisis

using empathic modeling methods.

What is the Opioid Crisis?

getting context


107,543 people died of drug overdoses in

01 2023. About 75,000 of these deaths were

02 caused by a synthetic opioid called fentanyl.

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03 The lethal dose of fentanyl is pictured in the

figure on the right, next to the penny. Many recreational drug users are unknowingly buying drugs that have been secretly cut with fentanyl.

What can we work with?

market research + interviews


After analyzing different types of health tests

01 I learned that current fentanyl test strips

02 show two lines if the opiate is NOT present.

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03 This is directly opposite of typical pregnancy

tests where two lines means somone IS pregnant.

Investigating pre-consumption solutions

ideation


01 I mainly focused on solutions that acted

02 before drugs had been taken. Ultimately

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03 I went in the direction that provided a

clean workspace which encourgaed more accurate test results more consistently.

Concept refinement



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waiting area for test strip


channel guides solution to strip

deep well to mix solution


Current test trip indicators.



top layer protects unused strips

New plus sign indicator when fentanyl is present.

Sequence of Use


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What’s next?

things to improve for the future


To further iterate I want to figure out how to

01 incorporate water storage into the design so

02 that the user doesn’t have to have any external

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03 items to use the product. The caveat for

this is that I would probably have to make it a single-use item instead of storing

multiple strips.

Clearspot.

an improved drug test experience


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MOBILE CITY LIFE

design methodology research sprint

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duration: 3 days

in collaboration with:

Avery Beard, Carmen Cutrona, Catherine Russell


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01 How can we bring the city back to life?

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Initial questions

research



How is the city of Mobile layed out?


What resources are available to Mobile?


1. Why do people visit Mobile?

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What type of people live in Mobile?


What is the city’s history?

2. How does Mobile’s history influence its culture?

Observations + Takeaways

research


Mobile has a rich cultural history as Alabama’s oldest city. The people that live here share a strong sense of

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01 community and there is a high turnover

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03 rate for businesses.


Insights:

Opportunity framing

analysis


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01 We are designing a campaign for

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03 possible visitors that encourages them to stay in Mobile for more than Mardi Gras!

Design Criteria

analysis


We synthesized all of our observations and

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01 insights into concise criteria that we needed 02 to address in order to ensure we were solving 04 the intial problem we set out to explore.

Persona

analysis


Based on our interviews, the average person

01 visiting Mobile is typically staying for

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02 business conventions.

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Our persona is a single, business driven food enthusiast thats interested in history and loves social settings.

Ideation

conceptualizing


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The results of our research drove us towards 01 a general direction: incorporating water into 02 the city. After all, its callled Mobile Bay for a 04 reason.